.. thanks, I enjoyed that.
I watched the first episode of 'The Paras' last night, and was struck by how 'innocent' and 'make do and mend' it was. But in many ways, being under resourced with ironing boards and the like didn't automatically make for a worse training and learning environment.
Ali Melvyn incidentally, was the first recruit broadcast at Aldershot. As a Sgt, I shared a snow hole near Tromso with him 16 years later and we had a good old natter (with Padre Frank Collins too).